DAPK1 and neoplasm: Furthermore, Xing M demonstrated that activation of MAPK signaling pathway resulted in upregulation of tumor-promoting genes (e.g. VEGFA, MET, HIF1A, UPA, UPAR, TGFB1, and TSP1) as well as downregulation of tumor suppression and thyroid genes (e.g. TIMP3, SLC5A8, DAPK1, NIS, TSHR, and TPO) (2).